Trouble doesn’t rain for the United States president, Joe Biden. It pours.
Or, how else would you describe the nasty situation where he is battling to redeem his campaign after a disastrous debate on June 27, 2024, then, on Wednesday, he was forced to abort his campaign event at Las Vegas because he tested positive for COVID-19?
Confirming the development, the White House said the President tested positive for the highly contagious respiratory disease on Wednesday while he was in Las Vegas for a series of events.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden tested positive “following his first event in Las Vegas.”
“He is vaccinated and boosted and he is experiencing mild symptoms,” Jean-Pierre continued. “He will be returning to Delaware where he will self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time. The White House will provide regular updates on the President’s status as he continues to carry out the full duties of the office while in isolation.”
The US President is already self-isolating in Delaware, according to NBC News.
Biden was tested after he experienced upper respiratory symptoms, Biden’s doctor said in a statement released by the White House. Dr. Kevin O’Connor is the president’s physician; the White House did not attribute the statement to him by name.
The President’s symptoms included a runny nose, nonproductive cough and “general malaise,” the statement said.
His doctor said he has already taken his first dose of Paxlovid, a medication that is associated with reducing the chance of hospitalization or death.
Biden does not have a fever, and his respiratory rate is normal, according to the doctor.
When Biden arrived later at the Las Vegas-area airport, he responded to a question about how he was feeling by saying, “Good, I feel good.”
Biden, 81, last tested positive in 2022; his opponent in the November election, former President Donald Trump, 78, tested positive in 2020.